Macro

Trying something new again. Macro. Played around with it a bit but without a huge amount of success. So inspired by Tiny Tuesday on Blip, thought I would have another go.
I have macro filters which have a factor of +1, +2, +4 and +10. The higher the number the closer you can get to the object you are shooting. I bought them cheaply on Ebay to try it out. You can stack them on top of each other to make almost any factor up to 10.
So this is the first attempt.

I was quite pleased with it, but there are areas that are out of focus and some of the central bits aren't very sharp. So I posted it on blipfoto and asked advice, and the wonderful blippers out there obliged.

First observation was that I need a smaller aperture so more will be in focus with a bigger depth of field. The way I explain it to myself is that a small aperture is like the camera squinting and when we squint we can generally see details a bit clearer.
Second was a tripod. This eliminates any movement and when you use a long exposure, also turn off the Image stabiliser and use the timer delay.

Second attempt using all the advice. Not as close but the boat is only about an inch and a half tall and I was pleased with the amount of texture and detail picked up on the sails.

Next attempt getting up really close. This is part of the front of one of my vintage cameras. Got as close as I could with the camera, mounted it on my gorillapod (a small flexible tripod that looks like an instrument of torture) and played around with shutters and apertures, finishing touches added in Lightroom. By Jove I think she's got it!

So last attempt to get it completely sorted.

This is my late Father's pocket watch and the workings are actually tiny so it was lovely to be able to get in close and see just what a work of art an old watch is.

So its all been a bit trial and error, but so far so good, just got to keep practicing!

Next post will be my 100th, have to do something very exciting for that one!

Lessons Learned: One of the most gratifying things about all the wonderful advice was that it was getting quite technical and I was actually able to understand most of it! I'm not the dummy I thought I was!

Diet Diary: Finally got back to Slimming World last Tuesday. Had put on a pound or 5 over the summer, so back on it now :-(